CASSATION ON BITCOIN, ETHER AND OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES

CASSATION ON BITCOIN, ETHER AND OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES

THE COURT OF SUPREME COURT INTERVENES WITH THREE JUDGMENTS ON BITCOIN, ETHER AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES

by Fulvio Sarzana of S. Ippolito, Lawyer, Sarzana and Associates Law Firm, Rome

The Supreme Court of Cassation, after a silence lasting more than 8 months, returns to talk about Bitcoin, Ether and cryptocurrencies with three rulings, by different sections, between July 8 and July 13, 2022. demonstrating how important the use of cryptocurrencies has now become, in both the legal and illegal sectors.

The trend towards addressing this issue is not actually unique, as Italian lawmakers, as well as tax agencies, have been moving in recent months to increasingly restrict cryptocurrency transactions, imposing strict traceability limits on operators such as exchanges and wallet providers (since July of this year), or requiring the traceability of financial flows associated with cryptocurrency trading (from January 2023, for the 2022 fiscal year).

The Court of Cassation is no exception, and has therefore recorded several rulings, all focusing on the subsequent use of cryptocurrencies following the commission of a crime, the seizure of the proceeds of the crime (essentially self-laundering), and the jurisdiction of the judge of the place where the crime was committed.

From this perspective, although the rulings address several extremely interesting issues, it must be said that the judges of Piazza Cavour concluded that territorial jurisdiction in cases of illicit "transformation" of funds derived from another crime into cryptocurrencies lies with the place where such transformation takes place, not with the defendant's place of residence, domicile, or abode, or where the virtual currency is then converted into fiat money.

By doing so, the Court of Cassation demonstrates its de facto disinterest in the commission of the underlying crime.

(in the various cases addressed, from bankruptcy to fraud), to focus their attention precisely on the purchase of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ether and other CRYPTOCURRENCIES.